Super Dragon Ball Z

Posted: 07/27/06

Atari has had the Dragon Ball Z license ever since people in America actually cared about Dragon Ball Z. Typically, the fighting games to come out of this agreement have been very easy to handle, and focused on a lot more flash than substance. It makes sense considering the Dragon Ball crowd is primarily comprised of prepubescent, teenage boys. Finally Atari has decided to throw the older players a bone with Super Dragon Ball Z, a much more complex and rewarding fighting game.

Super DBZ is an arcade-to-PS2 port. This is immediately noticeable when you boot up the game and see the four limited modes. The Original Arcade and Z Survivor modes both pit you against seven increasingly difficult opponents, but in Survivor you only have one health bar. There’s also a Versus mode where you can drop energy bombs on your friends, and a Practice mode where you can try out the different combos before you go one-on-one.

There’s enough gameplay for those crazy about fighters or the Dragon Ball Z franchise, but compared to Budokai and other DBZ rock-em-sock-em’s, these modes don’t give you a lot to do. The only way to dig deeper is to create a character card that you can upgrade by collecting battle points and Dragon Balls. These allow you to maximize your character’s attributes, or summon the dragon Shenron to add more characters, outfits and deadly moves.

There are eighteen characters to choose from, letting you appreciate the diverse library of characters from the series, but at the same time some fan favorites are MIA. Super Dragon Ball Z is based on the manga, and not the anime which makes it look more like a comic book than a cartoon. The environments and characters have pleasant hand-drawn touches to them, and the more powerful attacks are accompanied by their corresponding sound effects in large letters.

The cel-shaded visuals aren’t particularly impressive, but the environments are massive. They’re full of destructible objects, and places to hide from projectile attacks. This gives fighters too many opportunities to turtle and drag out each fight. As an arcade port, it’s not surprising that Super Dragon Ball Z is light on the options. But that doesn’t excuse it from being held to the same standard as other fighting games.

Super Dragon Ball Z is the first project from Crafts and Meister, a development studio started by the producer behind Street Fighter II. It definitely shows. The focus in this tournament is more brawling than blasting—complete with the patented Street Fighter half-circle forward commands.

The combos have been simplified to make Super Dragon Ball Z easy to pick up and play. Each is available for viewing in the pause menu, so learning a character’s signature attacks doesn’t take long. While this softens the learning curve, there aren’t as many moves here as in other fighters. And the ones that did make it aren’t as over-the-top as the atomic charges the Dragon Ball Z games are known for. At the same time, this was the intent, to make a simple, yet deep fighting game in the DBZ universe that older players can enjoy.

You can fight with your feet on the ground, or double jump up to float around in the air. This adds a new plane to attack on, but it’s often difficult to hurt your opponent from one of these opposing perspectives, even when you’re right on top of each other. This can leave you open for cheap shots and bizarre collisions with the environment.

For a game that was developed by one of the original producers of Street Fighter II, it’s surprising how little innovation has been brought to the game. If anything, it’s the same game in Dragon Ball clothing. Of course, if you know anything about Street Fighter II, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Super Dragon Ball Z was made for everyone but the hardcore Dragon Ball enthusiast. There are missing characters, modes, and combos that have been available in other fighting games based on the license. And a lot of the pointless cinematics have been removed. What remains is a streamlined, fairly standard fighter that’s accessible, yet still very fun to play. If you’re looking to tap the elemental energy inside of you, pick up Super Dragon Ball Z and let loose.

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